Varanasi court orders FIR against Swami Prasad Maurya over 2023 remarks on Ramcharitmanas

Varanasi, Aug 7 (PTI) A court here on Thursday directed police to register a case and initiate an investigation against former cabinet minister and Apna Dal (K) president Swami Prasad Maurya for allegedly making objectionable remarks in 2023 on Goswami Tulsidas and the Hindu epic Ramcharitmanas.
    The order was passed by Judge Neeraj Kumar of the MP-MLA Court, acting on a monitoring petition filed by advocate Ashok Kumar.
    The court directed the police to proceed under Section 156(3) of the erstwhile Criminal Procedure Code (when a person files a complaint with the police but FIR is not registered or if investigation is deemed unsatisfactory).
    According to the petitioner, Maurya, during an interview with a news channel on January 22, 2023, made derogatory comments about Ramcharitmanas, saying, "Neither I nor crores of others read it. It's all nonsense."
    He further said that Ramcharitmanas was written by Tulsidas for his personal satisfaction and suggested that the government either remove its allegedly objectionable portions or ban the entire book.
    Advocate Kumar said he had initially filed a petition against Maurya which was dismissed by the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, following which he submitted a monitoring petition, a request made to a court to oversee or supervise an investigation or other legal process.
    The court, after hearing the matter, directed the Cantt police station in-charge to register an FIR under appropriate sections and take necessary legal action.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)